@article{ref1,
title="Predictors of children's and adolescents' risk perception",
journal="Journal of pediatric psychology",
year="2005",
author="Greening, Leilani and Stoppelbein, Laura and Chandler, C. C. and Elkin, T. David",
volume="30",
number="5",
pages="425-435",
abstract="OBJECTIVE: To test cognitive-developmental, social-cognitive, motivational, and cognitive hypotheses about the psychological mechanisms underlying children's risk perception. METHOD: Youth (N = 1315) ranging from 9 to 17 years of age completed measures assessing adolescent egocentrism, personal experience with four negative health events, how much they worried about the health events, and their perceived skill for event-related activities. The measures were completed twice, 12 months apart. RESULTS: Lacking personal experience with and worrying less about health threats were significant predictors of more optimistically biased risk perception a year later. CONCLUSIONS: The lack of experience with and not worrying about serious health consequences may desensitize children to potential health risks. Clinical applications for health education programs are discussed.",
language="",
issn="0146-8693",
doi="10.1093/jpepsy/jsi066",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jpepsy/jsi066"
}